Bodkin / Patterns

Cheechs Periodical Cicada 1

Terrestrial · Trout · Smallmouth Bass · Carp · Advanced · 3 versions

Reference Recipe

  • Hook 2XL-3XL foam/nymph hook, 4-6
  • Thread Black 210 denier flat waxed

Materials

  • Body Black ostrich herl (6mm sheet foam)
  • Wings Orange permanent marker (pre-cut cicada wings)
  • Over wing Light dun wing bud (dry-fly yarn)
  • Indicator Sunburst orange (2mm foam tab)
  • Legs Orange barred rubber legs (Sexi Floss, two per side)
  • Eyes Black ostrich herl (UV resin, built on the foam)

How to tie it

  1. Mount the hook and lay a full thread base along the shank as an anchor for foam.
  2. Cut a strip of black 6mm foam a bit longer than the shank and bind it down at the bend, leaving a stub hanging off as the tail segment.
  3. Segment the body by binding the foam down with two firm thread wraps at the midpoint, then bring thread forward.
  4. Tie in the orange cicada wings flat over the back, then a sparse light dun yarn over-wing on top so it rides just past the bend.
  5. Figure-8 two barred Sexi Floss legs per side at the front of the body.
  6. Fold the front of the foam forward, bind it behind the eye to form a head, and tie a sunburst orange foam tab up top as an indicator.
  7. Whip finish under the foam head, then build small black eyes with a dab of UV resin and cure.
  8. Trim legs to a shank length; the fly should sit low and awkward like a struggling cicada.

Other versions

2 more in the app: Fly Fish Food Tie, variant 1, Fly Fish Food Tie, variant 2.

Tying videos

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